An Enchanted Night
by sunniebelle
Summary: A few days after Rose and her Doctor return to Pete's World, Rose is still struggling with worry over her place in the Doctor's life and if she indeed has a future with him. The Doctor is fairly sure he's come up with a fool-proof plan to ease her concerns and show her how priceless she truly is to him.


Rose Tyler smiled politely and nodded at what she hoped was an appropriate time to one of Pete Tyler's Vitex business associates. Her mum was hosting a big, fancy party to celebrate the return of the stars. The mystery of the stars suddenly going out, for seemingly no reason, had baffled scientists the world over. Torchwood had done its very best to gather the best and brightest experts they could find all over the world. The only ones who had known in their gut that something more sinister was going on had been Rose and Pete Tyler.

In the beginning, she had fought tooth and nail for weeks to have her's, Mickey Smith's and Jake Simmond's Dimension Canon Project approved for use. She'd spent months hopping dimensions, searching relentlessly for her Doctor.

She had never expected the result of her efforts to end like they had, to wind up back in Pete's World for good and living life on the slow path. More than anything, she hadn't expected the surprise of a lifetime, to get to stay with her family _and_ have the Doctor. Though there were some subtle differences between the Doctor she had been separated from and his biological metacrisis, he was indeed her Doctor in every way that mattered.

She could still recall in vivid detail the moments directly after watching the TARDIS and the Time Lord Doctor disappear without any kind of goodbye. With old, incredibly painful memories flooding to the surface of her battered and bruised heart, and her fears of abandonment rearing their ugly heads, she had thrown herself into the metacrisis' arms and sobbed from too many emotions coursing through her exhausted mind and body.

Rose forcefully pushed her reminiscent memories away, trying to once again focus on what the man—whose name she couldn't recall now—was continuing to discuss in an almost monotone voice. As soon as possible, she excused herself and went in search of the man that was never far from her thoughts.

After getting caught up in and escaping several conversations with individuals who were definitely not her Doctor, she finally left for the kitchens thinking he popped in there to steal some nibbles and have a rambling discussion with the likely annoyed staff. She could only hope he had not resorted to fiddling with the kitchen appliances. After all, there was only so many times she could talk her mum out of slapping him.

Upon learning none of the servants had seen him and feeling quite baffled at his disappearance, she let out a heavy sigh and decided to take a walk in the gardens that surrounded the back half of the Tyler mansion, thinking the fresh night air might help settle her thoughts.

As hard as she tried, Rose couldn't completely push aside the fear that tried to bubble up in her. Having been sent away so many times, searching for months and always coming up empty-handed, and finally being abandoned by the Time Lord Doctor on that bloody beach, all of it together had left her wary when she faced moments like this, when she couldn't find the Doctor. It brought up so many doubts in her, stirring painful memories to the surface.

Oh, she knew full-well the Doctor loved her. She even knew that the fully Time Lord Doctor loved her; but at moments like these, her insecurities had a way of overwhelming her.

Her mind was working over-time to convince her that her doubts and fears were real, not just imagined—that she wasn't enough for the Metacrisis Doctor and he missed traveling the stars too much to stay with her. Most importantly, though, she wondered if she would ever be enough to bridge the gaping hole that was left behind by the severed connection with his TARDIS.

All these depressing, morose thoughts spiraled in her mind like a viscous whirlwind. She knew she was being daft, but still that knowledge couldn't make the thoughts go away. They had plagued her relentlessly since that day on Bad Wolf Bay, just a few days ago.

So focused was she on her self-recriminating thoughts, she didn't see the moonlit outline of her half-human Doctor walking toward her in the dark.

"Rose! There you are, I was just coming to—" the Doctor began excitedly before cutting himself off at her startled gasp. "Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

Letting out a deep breath and trying to return her heart to its normal rhythm, she ran a hand down his arm to assure him she was fine and he was forgiven.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere. No one knew where you were."

Though Rose tried to keep her worry and self-doubts to herself, either her voice or something in her eyes gave her away. Familiar chocolate-brown eyes studied her for several long moments before he grasped her hands in a gentle but firm grip.

Looking deep into her eyes, the Doctor said, "I'm sorry I worried you Rose. I always hate to see you upset, especially when I'm the cause. I know it's going to take time to prove to you that I have no intention of ever leaving you again, at least not by my own choice." He stepped closer into her personal space, so close she could feel his warm puffs of air gently grazing her skin.

"I slipped away so I could prepare for the surprise I had planned for the two of us. Would you care to take a moonlit stroll with me?" he asked with a small smile, turning and offering his elbow to her.

He tried to hide it, but she could see the hesitant, vulnerable look in his eye, as though he was preparing for her to decline. As if she would ever miss out on a chance to have the Doctor all to herself.

"I'd love to, Doctor," she said, giving him a tongue-touched grin.

The Doctor was still awestruck whenever he was graced by one of Rose's beaming smiles. He didn't know how she did it, but her smile seemed to make the gentle light of the moon seem to shine as bright as day when she smiled at him like that. He was fully aware that he had a goofy, ear-to-ear grin on his face as he felt Rose's arm slip into the crook of his elbow. He had felt more genuine smiles cross his face in the past month than he had since the day he lost her in the battle of Canary Warf.

They walked in companionable silence until they reached the edge of the large duck pond that sat toward the back of the Tyler property.

A pleasantly warm wind blew the scents of the night air into their faces, letting them sample the sweet floral but heady smell of honeysuckle and lavender. In the trees and bushes they heard the calls and movements of small animals hurrying about their business in the cover of night.

The gentle warmth of the night air seemed to wrap around them, like a comfortable blanket and he could feel the earlier tension in Rose slowly fade as they took in the beauty around them. Ahead of them, the soft sound of wave after wave of water meeting and lapping at the shore added to the magic of the moment and to the melody of the night noises surrounding them.

The blue-ish white light of the moon illuminated the ground beneath the Doctor's and Rose's feet. The Doctor led them around the grassy shore a ways, toward a short wooden dock where, barely visible at the end, two lanterns sat atop the posts waiting to be lit.

He stopped her at the entrance to the pier and asked her to close her eyes and wait there for a minute. Rolling her eyes in feigned impatience and giving him an indulgent but excited smile, she complied.

Waving his hand in front of her face to test that she wasn't peaking, he darted to the end of the walk and turned the lanterns on high, then quickly returned to her side.

"Keep your eyes closed, but walk with me. I'll guide you." He was pleased to see the amused smile tugging at Rose's mouth, but focused on leading her to his surprise, mostly so he wouldn't focus too much on his desire to kiss her.

When they reached their destination, he stepped to the side and told her to open her eyes. He watched as her eyes opened and focused on his surprise; a wooden rowboat tied to the pier and in the center of the boat was a large picnic basket. He saw a beaming smile slowly light up Rose's face and simultaneously warm his single human heart, effectively calming his tumultuous fears about her enjoying his surprise.

"You did all this? For me?" she asked, her voice quiet while her eyes searched his.

"All for you, Rose Tyler. If I may?" he asked, gesturing to the boat. She accepted his help into the boat and was soon seated across from her. He gazed at her for a long moment, then, as though he was just remembering something, he reached behind him and presented her with a beautiful bouquet of pink and yellow roses.

Lifting them to her face to breathe in their wonderful smell, she said, "These are beautiful, Doctor. Thank you, for these...and doing all this."

"You're welcome. Only the best for my pink and yellow human," he said with a grin, which she returned.

He situated his hands on the paddles and made ready to move the boat out onto the water so he could continue his plans for the evening. He suddenly stopped when Rose cleared her throat and looked up at her.

"Um, Doctor, are you forgetting something?"

He looked at her in confusion for a moment, then glanced around them, mentally ticking off everything in his head, then looked back up at her in bemusement.

Shaking his head, he confirmed, "No, don't think so."

He could tell that she was holding back laughter and trying to hide a smile behind her hand. He cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting to see what she found so amusing.

Lowering her hand and doing a very poor job of not smiling, she pointed to the rope that was anchoring the boat to the pier. "'S just, think we'll get farther without being tethered, don't you?"

His face dropped as he looked at the line. "Ah."

He turned a beaming smile on her. "My brilliant, Rose! Always seeing what I miss!" he exclaimed with pride, making her smile wider.

The rope tucked safely away and paddles now in hand, the Doctor's smooth, powerful strokes brought them quickly to the middle of the pond fairly quickly.

After securing the paddles, the Doctor opened the hamper he had prepared earlier. In a short amount of time they each had plates of fish and chips and glasses of wine.

The Doctor had difficulty swallowing when Rose moaned at the taste of the chips. Trying to force his mind to other things than wanting to ravish her, he began rambling about his progress on the TARDIS coral. For a while they ate and drank, their conversation relaxed.

Soon the meal was finished and he brought out a large slice of double chocolate banana cake and two spoons. Rose's obvious delight caused him to make his happy noise at the pleasure she found in his hard work. They both moaned in pleasure when the first bite of the delicious cake reached their respective mouths, then looked at each other and laughed.

After packing their dishes away in the hamper, the Doctor moved over to sit beside Rose, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He enjoyed the feel of her leaning into his body and her contented sigh as they felt the gentle sway of the boat drifting in the water.

As they gazed at the night-time scenery around them, Rose smiled when she thought of all the thought, time and effort the Doctor had put into this lovely surprise date he had set up. All of this had shattered through the doubts that had been swirling in her head lately.

As he stared up at the moon and stars that softly lit the midnight sky, she surreptitiously studied him. He was wearing a dark-blue tuxedo; though tonight's party had been a black-tie affair, he had refused to wear a black one, much to her mother's annoyance. Rose had always loved how handsome he looked in a tux and tonight was no exception.

His eyes sparkled in the soft light, while the breeze ruffled the strands of his spiked hair. She continued her perusal, forcing her hands to remain in her lap and not wander into his really great hair. Her eyes finally fell to his mouth, specifically his pouty lower lip that continued to taunt her with how kissable that feature made him look.

She startled slightly when his head suddenly turned to her, their eyes locking and bodies stilling.

She felt a bit perplexed when she saw a slightly nervous look cross his face, yet couldn't help but track the movement of his Adam's apple as he swallowed. She wondered what was making him nervous and was about to ask him, when he started speaking.

"Rose, I—there's a reason I did all this tonight, planned it all out. I'm actually amazed one of my plans worked! You know, normally they end up going awry a little bit. Well, yeah, you know that. Don't need to go into that. I, um, that is. Oh, bugger." She watched in part amusement, part growing concern as her Doctor tried to tell her something that she instinctively knew was important.

He took a deep breath through his mouth and let it out his nose slowly, then turned slightly so he could face her. "Rose, I don't know that I, even with all the languages I can speak, could find the words to tell you how much I missed you."

Her breath caught at that statement and she felt the slight burning sensation of tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

"I was miserable, a completely useless wreck without you. There were so many times I'd ask myself, 'What would Rose do?', or 'What am I missing that Rose would see?'"

As the Doctor continued his ramble, he became more animated and Rose imagined that, were they not in a boat, he would have been pacing.

"And blimey, how many times did Donna yell at me for moping about or sulking? I was a right pain in the arse at times, I'm sure. You can stop laughing, Rose, cause it's true!" he said, smiling as she tried to stifle her giggles at the pictures he created. Oh, how she could just imagine those scenarios—which of course, was a rather sobering thought.

"The point I'm trying and failing to make Rose is, I was so miserable without you, but a great majority was because of my deep regret. Regret for how much bloody time I wasted holding you at arm's length. I told myself I was protecting you, from my darkness, from my past. But really, I was scared, a right sodding coward. I was terrified of how much it would hurt one day when I lost you."

Her throat got tighter as her tears gathered in her eyes, watching him bare himself completely like this. A tear spilled over and slowly rolled down her cheek as she saw his head bow, eyes close and shoulders slump with the weight of his next words.

"And then...I did lose you and it hurt so much more. Because all that time, we could have been honest about our feelings. No, _I_ could have been honest about my feelings for you. And Rose," he looked up, staring into her eyes, "my regret for the things I didn't do and didn't say still runs deep. A chasm of regret. And I vowed to myself, when you chose me that day on that windy beach, after we saved the Earth again—well, the universe...well, the multi-verse—I vowed that I would not hide my feelings for you any longer."

She watched him take a deep breath, then slide from his seat beside her. Her breath, mind, heart, everything stopped when he knelt before her and grasped her hand. Tears that she had managed to keep at bay now ran unchecked down her face.

"Rose Marion Tyler, from the day I grasped your hand in mine and told you to 'Run', you have fascinated, challenged, inspired me, saved me so many times, in so many ways. You took a bitter, old and broken Time Lord soldier...and you made me better. Your light, your spirit, your compassion, Rose, just...everything about you drew me to you. You were, are, will always be my center of gravity. And I cannot—do not ever want to—imagine a life lived without you. You are my everything. I love you, Rose Tyler, and will spend every single day of the rest of our forever proving it to you."

He drew out a small TARDIS-blue velvet case from his inner lapel pocket and lifted the lid to reveal a white-gold ring with a beautiful diamond centered between two small sapphires. As he lifted it from the case, she thought she could see his written language, circular Gallifreyan, engraved inside the ring—though she longed for stronger light than the gentle moonlight currently surrounding them to confirm her suspicions.

"Doctor," was the only word she could get past her lips and increasingly tight throat.

"Will you," he took a deep breath and she heard him gulp before he continued, "do me the extreme honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes, Doctor," she said in a broken whisper.

A beaming smile suddenly stretched across his face making the adorable crinkles around his eyes appear.

As he reverently slipped the ring onto her finger, she giggled in delight and stared at it for a long moment. She then lunged forward to wrap him in a tight hug. He barely kept them upright, both of them laughing as the boat rocked with their movement. For several minutes they were content to stay locked in their warm embrace.

Turning her head, she trailed her lips across his jaw pressing soft kisses to his smooth skin. Making her way to his mouth, she finally gave him a loving, lingering kiss. He was quick to lean into her and when she moved her now-bejeweled left hand to his hair to scratch at his scalp, while also drawing his tempting lower lip between hers, she relished the sound of his moan. He pulled her closer, one arm tight around her lower back while the other snaked into her hair to tilt her head as he deepened the kiss, which pulled a moan from her as well.

The need to breathe finally caused them to separate, their foreheads touching and their breath mingling. Her eyelids fluttered open, warm amber meeting rich chocolate.

Her hands, still tangled in his gorgeously riotous hair, came down to rest on either side of his face and she pulled back to better see him. It took all her will-power not to continue their previous activities, what with seeing his adorable and thoroughly-snogged appearance. But she had something important to tell him as well, something she had not said to him in a very long time.

"Doctor, you are so important to me. So important that I jumped universes to get back to you. I was utterly devastated when we were separated, so lost. I was more lonely than I knew it was possible to be. But because of all I went through, the decisions I made because no one would or could make them, I feel like...like I know you and understand you better. And Doctor, I mean this from the depths of my soul," she stared into his eyes to make sure he was truly hearing her.

"It doesn't matter what has happened in your past. All of what you went through, every single bit of it, it made you into who you are. And who you are...is the man I love. My Doctor. I love you, so much."

Now it was the Doctor whose face was streaked with tears as he stared into her eyes. He looked at her as though he had found the most precious treasure. It was a look of wonder and awe.

Suddenly he surged forward with a hard press of his lips to hers. She poured all her love for this beautiful, wonderful man into her kiss and felt the same being sent to her.

He finally slowed and gentled his touch, kissing her with such tenderness and love that she again felt tears burning behind her eyelids.

Breaking away so there was only a few inches between them, they gazed at each other, memorizing and treasuring everything about this moment. The Doctor stared at Rose with deep, chocolate brown eyes, his gaze so filled with love and hope for their future together.

She looked down between them at their hands, palms pressed together and fingers tightly linked. She knew—they both knew deep in their souls—no matter what the universe had in store for them, as long as they had each other's hand to hold, they could face it. Together.

* * *

**Notes: **This is based on a Tumblr prompt from skyler10fic to use the words 'party' and 'boat' from Tumblr's doctorroseprompts' _Summer Fic Bingo_. I also used the words 'kiss', 'surprise', 'breeze', 'animal(s)', 'wave', and 'magic', which gave me a _bingo_! Hope you enjoy the story!

(And if any of you would like to send me a prompt from the game or any other word or sentence prompt, please feel free to message me on Tumblr any time! :D sunniebelle-dot-tumblr-dot-com )


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